All I Know is Falling
by tvrc
Summary: Shay Malfoy never knew her parents, and hardly knows anything about them. What will she learn about herself when she goes to Hogwarts? Can she get through it all with the help of her best friends, Fred and George, and still have a few laughs along the way
1. Chapter 1

When I arrived at the train station for Hogwarts my first time, it wasn't my brother, Draco, and my uncle, Jerry, taking me there. Draco had gotten sick and they stayed home. Instead, it was the Weasley family, my closest friends.

Their family consisted of ten people. First, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, the kindest people in the world. Second was Bill, their oldest son, who wasn't there because he had to be at work. Third was Charlie, who would be going into his seventh year at Hogwarts. He was Gryffindor Quidditch captain, too. There was Percy, who was biggest perfectionist in the world and would be in his forth year. Ron, who was the same age as Draco, would go to Hogwarts in two years. Ginny, the youngest, was nearly a year younger than Ron, but would still go to Hogwarts the same year.

Lastly, there was Fred and George, the twins of terror, who were going to be first years, same as me. They were also my absolute best friends.

"Hurry up, Shay, were going to be late," called Fred.

"Ugh, then help me with this," I said, pulling at my trunk and he came over.

Once we had gotten it out of the car, we all headed for platform nine and three quarters. I had gone with the Weasleys last year, but walking through the wall to get there was still weird.

I kept thinking about Draco and Jerry. I wondered if they would be all right. Over the past year, Jerry had developed Alzheimer's. I knew the Weasley's house, the Burrow, was really close. But Mrs. Weasley couldn't be watching them all the time.

Normally, I never really worried too much over anything. I tried to leave that to other people. But tell me the next time you leave your little brother and forgetful uncle alone in a house when you go to school without worrying.

Fred, George, Percy, Charlie and I put our trunks up once we got to the station. I decided I didn't want to leave Pooh, my owl, back there all alone for the trip. I thought Pooh had maybe had a potion of some sort, allowing him to communicate with his owner. Whenever he was close, I knew what he was trying to tell me. He seemed to listen when I talked to him. Well, that's at least what I thought. Draco, Fred and George thought I was crazy.

"Shay, you're supposed to leave Pooh in the back," Percy told me.

"Shove off Perce, let her do what she wants," George said.

But then Charlie said, "You really should, Shay." I knew he wouldn't have said anything unless he had a good reason. So I left Pooh in the back, even though I didn't want too.

I'd always known the Weasley's; they were the only wizard family anywhere near us. I went over all the time once I learned how to fly. Unlike almost all wizard-born kids, I lived in town and had elected to go to the Muggle School there rather than study the basics at home. I still went over to the Burrow after school all the time, though, and frequently spent the weekends there.

For some odd reason, Draco never wanted to come with me when I visited the Weasley's, nor did he go to the Muggle School I had gone to. It was strange, I would think he would want to be around other kids and make friends.

When I was three and Draco had just been born, both of our parents were killed. Draco and I went to live with our uncle Jerry. He never said anything much about our parents, so we didn't know anything much about them at all. We didn't know how they died, except that it had to do with Voldemort, a dark wizard who could have taken over the whole world, who fell around the same time they died.

Personally, I thought my parents had been supporters of Voldemort, but no one would tell me anything about it.

We went to say goodbye to the rest of the Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley pulled us all into a hug, ignoring Fred and George's protests. Then I hugged a crying Ginny.

"I'll miss you, and I promise to write all the time," I told her. Ginny was like a little sister to me. I knew, that in her house full of boys, she loved spending time with me. When I came to spend the weekend, we would always have "sleepovers."

"Okay," she sniffled, and then I followed the boys onto the train.

Fred, George and I went to the front where a bunch of other first years were sitting, while Percy and Charlie went farther back. We found a compartment a couple seats left. There were only two other people inside, who were both just sitting down.

"Hi, I'm Shay Malfoy, and this is Fred and George Weasley," I said pointing to each of them in turn.

A girl smiled and said, "I'm Alicia."

"I'm Lee," a black boy with dreadlocks said and turned to me, "How do you tell them apart?"

The three of us laughed. "I have no idea," George told him, smiling, "but somehow, she can do it a thousand times better than our mum."

I was impressed by Lee's observance. Normally, people didn't realize I could tell them apart until they knew us a long time. Even I didn't know how I did it, I just did. I even knew who was who from far away, and however I did it; I thought it was quite impressive, really.

"So, what house do you want?" Alicia asked everyone, only a moment later.

"Gryffindor," I replied.

"Us too," Fred indicated to himself and George.

"That's what I want," Lee said.

"Good, hopefully we'll all be in the same house," Alicia said then told Fred and George, "You two will defiantly get in, you're whole family's in Gryffindor."

"Yeah, I think they do a lot of it by family," Lee agreed.

I gulped, "Really?" I knew that most of my family had been in Slytherin, and I defiantly didn't want that house, they all seemed really nasty.

Fred must have sensed my worry, and knew the cause, because he said next, "Don't worry April, I bet it doesn't mean anything in your case."

"What?" Lee asked.

"All her family's been in Slytherin," George said.

"Oh," Lee said, looking uncomfortable.

I knew he'd be trying to think of ways to cheer me up, so I masked my doubt, shrugged and told him, "It's all right Lee. I'll just see when we get there."

Alicia really did know how to keep a conversation going, she turned the subject to Quidditch before any one could say another word on the subject.

"Shay's the best player our age you'll ever see. As good as Charlie, really. They might even bend the rules to let her play in her first year," George told Lee and Alicia.

I blushed, "I'm not really _that _good, George. Definitely not as good as Charlie."

"Yeah, you are," Fred said, "You're absolutely brilliant. Just don't try out for beater though; George and I want that. If you wanted it, it would be impossible to get."

"You two are amazing beaters, there's no way –" I started to say, but was cut off by George.

"Yeah, you could, Shay. Don't even try denying it."

"Who's Charlie?" Lee asked.

"They're brother, he's Gryffindor captain," I said.

We talked about Quidditch for a while. Lee said he wasn't a very good player, but loved watching it, and Alicia liked playing chaser.

After a while, a witch with a trolley arrived. Lee got some Bertie Bott's Beans, and I got some chocolate frogs because I knew Fred and George loved them, but of course they wouldn't have the extra money.

I had a frog so they wouldn't know I had gotten them just for them, and let them have the rest. Then I pulled out the nerds, "They're Tiny. They're tangy. They're crunchy. They're candy. They're NERDS!!" I shouted, sounding like a cheerleader.

Lee and Alicia looked at me funny, "What are nerds?" Alicia asked.

"The tiny tangy crunchy candy!" I said, pulling out a pack and showing them to her.

Fred laughed and told them, "It's a muggle candy, she went to a muggle school before now. And she's like this all the time, completely insane."

"No! I'm not _insane_, you silly boy. I'm just messed up!"

"And this is _before _she has the sugar?" Alicia asked.

"That's right. Maybe you shouldn't have that right now, Shay, you might explode before we get to Hogwarts," George said, making a grab for my beautiful box of gold.

"No! My box of gold! Mine!" I shouted, holding it tight. George sighed and sat down. I happily opened my nerds, "And _you_ can't have any, ha!"

As I ate my absolutely wonderful beautiful nerds, Lee looked like he was thinking something. Finally, he said, "Wait, you went to a muggle school?"

I was too absorbed in eating my nerds to say anything but, "Yup."

"But your family's wizard and you know the Weasleys?" he asked.

"Yup."

"Why?" Alicia, this time, asked.

"Because she's insane," Fred said.

"No I'm not! I passed that mark years ago! Now I'm a full fledged Messed-Up!"

"Why are you all laughing at me? What did I do wrong?" As predicted, that only made them laugh harder.

Alicia had tears streaming down her face by the time she decided we should put our robes on.

"But really, why did you go to a muggle school?" Lee asked again.

"I just wanted to, I guess. I wanted to have other friends. I got some experience with muggles, so I'm not as thickheaded as these guys about them." I said, gesturing to Fred and George.

"Oh! We're there!" Alicia shouted.

"We're not thickheaded!"

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	2. Chapter 2

We got off the train and heard a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' o'er here!"

The large man who had been calling lead us towards a big lake, with little boats ready to go across. We saw the enormous castle, looming ahead. It was magnificent. He instructed us to go four to a boat, so Alicia and Lee went in another while I got in one with Fred and George.

"I'm so scared," I confessed to them.

"You, scared? Impossible, your never scared," Fred said.

"I've never had much to be scared of. Anyway, you are too, admit it," I told him.

"Of course not-" he started to say, but caught the look I was giving him, even in the dark. "Well, yeah, I guess I am," he corrected himself.

"Me too," George said.

Then, I saw another girl walking towards the boat. As she sat down, I saw her face. "Shay?" she asked.

I looked at her, very confused, then, I figured it out, "Clair!" she screamed, tackling me.

The boat started to move across the lake, but I hardly noticed. "What happened, I've been to your house and stuff, and your family's not wizard."

"I know they're not, but I got a letter telling me about the school and stuff. At first I wouldn't believe it, but then a Hagrid, you know, the big man in that boat," she said, pointing to the man who was leading us across, "he showed up and told me everything. I guessed about you, and he said I was right."

"I can't believe it! This is great, Clair!" Clair had been a friend at muggle school. I would never have guessed that she'd be here now.

Then, Clair said pointing, "What's that?"

George and I stood up to look at the same time. Then, the boat rocked, and I fell in.

The water was unbelievably cold. My head rose and I gasped for breath, letting George and Clair lift me out. I sat there shivering the rest of the ride across, unable to ask Claire my thousand of questions.

As soon as we reached the other side, a strict looking teacher saw me in my wet clothes, and preformed a charm. Now I was dry and in a considerably better mood.

She ushered us into the castle. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "I'm Professor McGonagall Soon, you will all enter the Great Hall, and be sorted into your houses. I trust that most of you know that there are four houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. This Sorting is very important here at Hogwarts, because you will spend most of your time with the rest of your house. This year we have a very small class; I believe there are only twenty-three of you? So I'm sure you will spend time with the other students too."

"Rule breaking will lose your house points, but your triumphs will gain you house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup."

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a moment, I wish all of you luck."

Then she left, leaving us all to fret about what was going to happen. Everyone was silent, except for one rather loud boy who was talking to his friends about how he was sure to be in Slytherin, but he sounded worried.

Soon, the teacher came back; she opened the doors and let us into the great hall. It was beautiful, there were candles hanging in the air, and the ceiling looked like it was only a starry sky. Then, I noticed a filthy hat sitting on a stool in the front of the room. Suddenly, it launched into song.

The song described the houses and said that it would look in our heads when we tried it on and tell us what house we would be in. At least that was a lot better than some of the ridiculous things Fred and George had described on the train about what their brothers had told them.

Then, Professor McGonagall said, now holding a long roll of parchment, "I will call your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted. Anderson, Bradley"

A small boy stepped forward, put on the hat and sat on the stool. Hardly a second went by, and the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Britton, Chambers" was called up; the hat took at least thirty seconds on him, but then decided, "RAVENCLAW!"

Both Rebecca Carter and Roger Davies became Ravenclaws, too. Sam Elrod and McKenzie Forester made it to Hufflepuff. Angelina Johnson was a Gryffindor.

Then it was Lee's turn. "You'll do fine," I whispered from behind him. He nodded, but didn't look so sure. He slowly walked up to the stool, and sat down. The hat took a moment to decide, but, of course, it shouted, "GRYIFFENDOR!"

Then, McGonagall shouted, "Malfoy, Shay"

I sighed, walked up, and put the hat on my head.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's see, oh my goodness - no this can't be happening. I can't see in your head. Can you hear me?" The hat asked in a panicky tone. I could tell the hat was talking only to me, not the other people in the hall, but it was when it said, "Stop the sorting, I need to speak with Dumbledore and the heads of house. Oh, and the girl had better come too."

A puzzled expression was now on everyone's faces. I sat there, absolutely terrified. Then, McGonagall walked over to me, took the hat from my head, and gestured for me to follow. I looked and saw an old, wise looking man, who I knew was Dumbledore, a very very short man, a plump lady and a tall, greasy, hook nosed teacher following. They all went into a side room, but Dumbledore stopped me, "I think it would be best if you waited a moment." Then he followed the other teachers. It was clear I could do what I wanted. I stayed outside though, and soon they called me in.

"Shay, what were you thinking before you put the hat on?" Dumbledore said.

"I was thinking about how I wanted to get in Gryffindor," I told him.

"Are you sure it was that exactly?" He asked.

"Well, mostly I was thinking about how I didn't want to get in Slytherin." I admitted.

He smiled and said, "Well, I'm going to have you try on the hat again, but this time, can you focus on letting the hat into your head for me? Or at least don't think about not wanting a certain house."

I gulped, "All right."

McGonagall sat the hat on top of my head and again I heard its voice, "Let's see if this time… yes, I can. But only what you're thinking at the moment. Think about letting me in you're whole mind. Yes, that's it. Well, you're a Gryffindor," Dumbledore smiled at this, and McGonagall took the hat.

"We'll go back to the hall and you'll be sorted in front of the school. Then we'll resume the sorting." Dumbledore said and we all did.

When I entered the great hall for the second time, I was met the murmurs instead of the beauty. Everyone was standing to get a look at me. Why did I have to be the one the hat messed up on?

I sat on the stool, and put the hat on for the third time. It said, "Now, pretend like you're listening to me."

_I am listening to you, _I told it.

"Never mind, GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted.

Everyone clapped, and I ran to sit near Lee and Charlie. Both of them were throwing questions at me, but I told them that I would answer later. The sorting resumed.

"McLean, Sarah"

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted before it was even fully on her head.

Why did the hat work for them, but not me?

Then, "Midgen, Eloise"

_Maybe Slytherin? _I heard the hat ask, even though I was sure no one else but Eloise could. I also knew that Eloise told the hat she didn't want that, even though I didn't exactly hear her. _All right then, how about… _"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat said, screaming the last word.

What was wrong with me?

Davis Montague went up next and got Slytherin. The hat didn't say anything to him, but I heard plenty of things he told Nikki Patterson. _Are you _sure_ you want Slytherin, you would be a wonderful Ravenclaw… _but Nikki refused, so she got Slytherin. I saw that we didn't have to worry much about what house we would get, the hat was giving everyone what they wanted. Adrian Pucey got Slytherin, too, though the hat said nothing.

Claire Phillips went up. _Hmm, you'll get wonderful grades, you're very smart, but you'll work really hard for them, and you're really loyal. Would you rather go in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw? _Claire told the hat she didn't have a preference, but again, I didn't exactly hear her say it; it was more through the hat. _Then I guess you'll be a _"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Then McGonagall called "Spinnet, Alicia," and I saw Alicia walk up and sit down.

"GRIFFENDOR!" The hat shouted after telling Alicia that she was very loyal and hard-working, Hufflepuff traits, but would do better in Gryffindor. Alicia came over and sat next to Lee, looking amazingly relived. Thomas Summers and Patricia Stimson both got sorted into Hufflepuff, without the hat saying much. Then Kenneth Towler got into Gryffindor after being very stubborn. The hat had thought that he would do better in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, but Ken wanted Gryffindor, so the hat complied.

Finally, it was Fred's turn. The red head walked up, looking at me first. I smiled, knowing what would happen. He then nervously returned it. He sat down and pulled on the hat, _Hello George, _the hat said and I smiled again, my plan was working! _Well then, Fred will be a Gryffindor, I presume? _George nodded and the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" I stood up and cheered as he ran over. We high fived, with wicked smiles on our faces, and turned to watch Fred went up to the stool.

He looked at his brother and me, we flashed him thumbs ups and he smiled. He sat down, and pulled the hat on._ Haha, nice trick you, your brother and… Miss Malfoy came up with it? Interesting, _it said, then shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

He ran over and sat next to me. "The first trick we pull and no one even knows, a pity," I whispered.

"Quite," he said, then looked over to the last boy. "At least we weren't last,"

The boy was looking very nervous; he was the boy who was acting so sure of himself earlier. "Warrington, Caleb," McGonagall called, and he walked up. The hat decided in record time that he was a Slytherin. It didn't tell him anything at all. I don't believe it even thought anything.

"What happened earlier, when the teachers took you out?" George asked me.

"I'll tell you and Fred later," I told him, gesturing to all the people.

"All right," he said.

Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome! Welcome new students! And welcome again to the old! Now, I am rather hungry so let us begin our feast!"

Dumbledore sat down, and suddenly all the plates filled with food. I stuffed myself, not even paying attention to the conversations around me.

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